During the summer months look out for these vegetables
When I’m cooking, I always want to use ingredients when they’re at their best. That’s why I enjoy eating seasonally. During the summer months look out for these vegetables and enjoy them while they’re fresh, plentiful and in their prime.
Artichoke (also known as Globe Artichoke)
I’m very fond of these striking-looking vegetables, as are the French and the Italians, but they are something of an acquired taste. Choose the smallest, freshest looking artichokes you can find with tightly closed leaves.
The simplest way to cook artichokes is to boil them whole. Make sure you cook them in a non-reactive pan in water with lemon juice added to stop them discolouring. Boil until tender – around 30 minutes – drain and serve them warm. Eat them by pulling off the leaves with your fingers and dipping them in melted butter or hollandaise and nibbling the tender base. Once you get to the middle of the artichoke, you need to cut away the fibrous, inedible choke, revealing the tender, edible artichoke heart – the hidden prize at the centre of the artichoke – which you eat with a knife and fork.
Alternately, you can prepare the artichoke before you cook it. To do this snap off the tough outer leaves and cut away the leaves covering the base of the artichoke heart, then use a knife or teaspoon to remove the fibrous, inedible ‘choke’ in the centre, which is discarded. As you trim it, remember to rub the cut surfaces of the artichoke with fresh lemon juice as you go to stop them discolouring. You can then cook the prepared artichoke and serve it.
If all that sounds too complicated, then treat yourself to jarred artichoke hearts in oil – great on pizzas or as part of an antipasti spread.
Beetroot
When I was a boy, slices of jarred beetroot in vinegar was a salad staple. Nowadays, fresh beetroot is appreciated for its sweet flavour and striking colour and you find it popping up on fashionable restaurant menus. Look out for fresh beetroots at your supermarket, market or greengrocer, choosing small, unblemished beetroots with fresh-looking leaves. Trim off the leaves, leaving a good 2–3 cm of stem above the beetroot to prevent the red from seeping out, and boil or roast them until tender. I like combining beetroot with horseradish and soured cream, as you’ll discover if you look at my recipe for Roast Beef, Beetroot and Horseradish Platter.
Broad Beans
Look out for the smallest, freshest broad beans you can find as this is when they’ll be at their best and sweetest. The time-consuming thing about cooking broad beans is that you really do need to slip the bitter-tasting, thick skin off each broad bean. The quickest way to do this is to blanch them. Add them to boiling water, return the water to the boil, let it boil for 1 minute, then drain them and plunge them into cold water. Now, just pop each lovely bright green bean out of its skin, ready to be steamed or boiled until tender – just a few minutes. Use them in soups, purée to serve as a dip, add to rice pilaffs or risottos, toss them in parsley sauce to serve as a side vegetable or try my Favourite Quick Summer Salad.
Courgette
This really is a fantastically versatile vegetable, which can be used in so many different ways. When choosing, look for firm, green, unblemished courgettes. Whole courgettes can be hollowed out then filled with a stuffing of your choice – say spiced mince or a tomato-based mixture – then baked in the oven until tender. Sliced courgettes can be fried in butter or olive oil, griddled (have a look at my Chicken Paillard with Griddled Courgettes to see how I do this) or used in a stir-fry. Add chopped courgette to pasta sauces, a summer minestrone soup or slow-cook in a classic French ratatouille.
Sweetcorn
With its sweet flavour, this summer vegetable is a favourite with children. Look for the freshest sweetcorn you can find, as the natural sugars in this vegetable start turning into starch once it is picked. To prepare it just pull off the pale green husk, revealing the yellow corn kernels. A classic way to cook husked sweetcorn is to boil it whole until tender and serve it piping hot with a little melted butter. I like to cook it on the barbecue, either in its husk to keep the sweetcorn tender or, for more of a chargrilled flavour, with the husk pulled off and a little oil rubbed onto the corn kernels. Alternately, slice the kernels off the cob and use them to add sweetness and texture to soups, rice dishes or tangy salsas.
